The Stone General
by TheRookMaster
Summary: This story takes place right after the battle with Pitch. It centers around a spirit called Syl, the keeper of the gargoyles. Unfortunately for Syl, her job gets a whole lot more interesting after the unknown side effects of the battle between the Guardians and Pitch reach her home. Jack also features a key role here, and he might just be Syl's only hope if she wants to survive!
1. Prologue

Chapter 1

_The Stone General_.

Syl supposed that, if you were going to be given a nickname, it might as well be imposing.

_Rook Master._

She doubted that many people knew what a rook actually was, and if they did, they would probably be thinking of a chess piece. Syl was definitely not talking about a chess piece.

_Chimera Tamer._

_Grotesque Queen._

Few people actually called her by these titles, but just being known by these things let Syl carry around a weight that carried beyond her already imposing appearance.

She was taller than the average female teenager, being a full five foot ten and showing every ounce of her 130 pounds of lean muscle. Her sleek brown hair hung down to the middle of her constantly tense back and her golden-hazel eyes could pierce the thickest of ice.

The lithe girl sat on top of a crumbling gothic church, leaning precariously over the edge by the sheer grip of her bare feet and toes. Syl knew she wouldn't fall, she never fell.

This was her home turf.

Syl focused her wandering gaze back to the task at hand. There was much to do here.

The eroding church had obviously not been repaired in quite some time, and the masonry was suffering for it. There was little she could do about the bricks that had already disintegrated into dust, but the statues that stood around her – those were another matter.

Syl edged closer to the moss covered gargoyle on her right. The beast had grown a thick beard of lichen from the years of growth that had engulfed it, and one of its outstretched paws had blown away into nothing, leaving only a jagged stump.

Syl sighed. She could tell that the beast had once been a piece of art, and had been cared for by a worrying stonemason many hundreds of years ago.

The girl wiped away some of the foliage encasing the gargoyle with long fingers, exposing the craftsmanship that had all but been worn away by time. Syl took an especially long time examining the clawed feet of the creature, making sure to soak in every detail. Then she moved back to the broken off stump.

Syl crouched down, letting her toes grasp more firmly on the crumbling edge of the building that her and the gargoyle perched on. She cupped her hands in front of her face, as though warming them up from the cold winds that were stirring around her. But Syl was not cold. She could not feel the cold.

Instead, she could feed the breath that she had blown into her hands solidify. She kept blowing. The space between her hands gaining weight, although if you were to peer inside, there would be noting to see.

Syl pulled her head away from her hands, quickly closing her fists together so as not to lose the magic that was now sitting in her palms. She leaned down even closer to the gargoyle. Then she slowly un-cupped her hands around the missing paw of the gargoyle. She visualized the other feet of the creature, trying to capture the essence of what the missing limb might have looked like.

And then it was there.

The majestic sculpture now had all four of its limbs intact. None of the previous wear of the centuries remained after Syl was done with her work.

She was the spirit of gargoyles after all.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Jack Frost was bored.

_Very_ bored.

Since he and the guardians had defeated Pitch, all they had done was celebrate.

North could throw great parties, he had to give him that.

But 3 whole months of them?

It was getting tiresome. Sandy just stuffed himself with eggnog that the elves always tried to get a taste of, and Bunnymund couldn't stay out of North's vintage stores of liquor.

Jack had partied as hard as the next person, being just as relieved that the battle was finally over and that they could all sleep soundly now that the Nightmare King was out of the way.

But now that all of the hubbub had died down, it was back to business as usual.

Tooth had gone back to her palace, Bunny to his warren and Sandy to his castle, and Jack was stuck here with North at the workshop.

It wasn't that there weren't enough toys for Jack to amuse himself with. That was just it.

Doing nothing but mess around with the latest inventions of fun and mirth was getting kind of, well…_old._

Jack had to get out.

He couldn't stay well behaved all of the time. And there was no chance of getting away with anything with the Man Who Was Always Watching in the same building as you.

Jack supposed he would just have to stay on the naughty list.

Jack Frost couldn't decide where to cause mischief first.

He'd have to stay in the Northern Hemisphere this time of year, with spring in full bloom in most of the world.

Jack decided to visit London first. He'd heard that there was a big music festival going on, and London was always a bit frigid no matter what time of year it was.

"Let's go wind!"

Jack jumped off of the edge of North's workshop, landing in the frigid arms of his friend the wind. Jack was a light as a feather and his friend had no problems in whisking him away to wherever he wished to go at top speed.

The winter spirit had missed the open air. Being cooped up in Santa's workshop had its perks, but nothing beat the wild blue yonder that Jack Frost called home.

In no time at all Jack could see the Thames rise up below him.

It was too warm now for a frosting, but that didn't stop him from giving some nearby swimmers a good chill by dipping his staff into the soon to be frigid waters.

The bathers shook from the newly dropped water temperature and ran for the warmth of their beach towels on the shore.

Jack let out a quick little chuckle and continued on to the center of London.

He then proceeded to blow over almost every newspaper stand in sight and blew up passing girls skirts in a shameless manner.

Jack Frost was glad to be back to his old ways. It was hard being good all the time, and it filled him with a sense of utter joy to be out in the field again.

The winter spirit landed on top of a nearby church spire, hooking the crook of his staff around the neck of a roaring gargoyle.

He took a look around, scanning for any further ways of spreading mischief, when he saw the outline of a person on the other side of the church roof.

There was no way Jack could pass this up.

As he moved closer he could see that the figure was a young girl, although surely too old to believe in him at all. And she was leaning precariously over the edge of the church roof, staring down at the almost infinite drop below them.

Jack chuckled silently to himself. This would be way too easy.

He planned on blowing a cold gust of air right in front of the girl, scaring the living daylights out of her. It served her right for being so close to the edge with no regard for her safety. Jack was doing her a favor really. He would teach her a lesson on safety.

Jack got closer yet to the teenager, silently giggling too himself.

He was just about to come up next to the girl when she suddenly swung around in a whirl of brown hair and long fingers.

She stared right in his direction, but Jack knew she couldn't actually see him. He supposed he would just have to find another way to play a trick on her.

He moved a little closer to the now tense teenager, her eyes still seemingly locked onto his.

"What are you doing?"

The girl spoke, and it sounded like she hadn't actually spoken in a long time, because her voice had a slightly raspy edge to it.

Jack turned around, expecting to see someone behind him, but no one was there.

He turned back to the girl, peering around her but she just moved her gaze to remain locked onto his eyes.

"Wait…can you see me?"

Jack asked tentatively, hoping both that it was a yes and a no at the same time. It would be nice to know that someone this old still believed in him but it would also be really embarrassing. He had just snuck up right behind her in an attempt to scare the living daylights out of her.

"Of course I can see you, and I could hear you coming a mile away too."

Jack just laughed at this.

"Of course you did, that's why I was right next to you before you finally turned around."

The girl scoffed at this, the corner of her mouth turning up to reveal blindingly white teeth.

"To be honest I didn't think you'd be able to see me either."

Now they both stood there, taking in the other party.

Jack noticed that, similarly to him, the girl wore no socks or shoes on her feet despite the cool touch of the stone on the church roof.

The girl wore greyscale camouflage cargo pants and a black short sleeve thermal on top of her well defined body.

Jack didn't really mean to stare, but, she was just so well…_imposing._

He hadn't noticed from far off, but the girl looked like she could be on the cover of some outdoors magazine.

She wasn't dainty by any means of the word.

She stood about as tall as Jack, and he had always thought himself as a fairly substantial height. He could also tell from the tight fit of her thermal that she had an incredibly lean body. There appeared to be no place that lean muscle didn't lace, but it wasn't piled on like a body builder.

No, she reminded him more of a gazelle on the African safari. But her eyes were those of a lioness.

They shone with a fierceness that made him almost drop his gaze, but he couldn't stop looking at those golden-brown orbs.

Now it was the girl's turn to stare.

The boy in front of her was a twig. All lanky limbs and spiky white hair, but something about him kept her from thinking that he was harmless.

The staff he carried, for one, looked like it carried quite an aura around it.

His blue hoodie and ripped brown pants looked unimposing enough, but as she peered closer, she could make out spiraling frost patterns around the edges of the fabric.

And his eyes, they were quite something.

They looked like the deepest blue on the inside of a glacier.

Then her concentration was broken.

"Uh-hey."

The boy stuck out one of his lanky arms with his hand outstretched.

"I'm Jack Frost."


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Oh."

The girl looked at Jack Frost's outstretched hand, debating whether to shake it or not.

She'd heard of the winter spirit many times over the years, not all of the rumors good.

But she hadn't actually had a conversation with anyone in over a decade or so, so what was the harm?

She grasped the spirit's hand firmly.

"I'm Syl."

Jack shook Syl's hand, startled that it was just as cold as his.

"So I suppose you're a spirit too then?"

He knew that she had to be, but he felt it polite to ask instead of making assumptions right off the bat, and it seemed to be a good ice breaker. (Pun intended)

"Oh yeah, I've heard a lot about you. You're the spirit of winter right?"

Jack could tell that Syl's voice was now over the initial speaking phase, and he rather liked her voice now. It seemed to clip off the ends of all of her words, giving them an enunciation that made that made them crisp and clear.

"Yeah that's me. Old Man Winter."

She laughed a bit at this, and Jack decided that he liked her laugh too.

"Oh please, you look about as old as I do."

Jack raised his eyebrows, implying that guessing the age of a spirit was like taking a shot in the dark.

While he knew she meant that they both looked around seventeen when they became spirits, he was curious to know how long she'd been around.

"And just how old might that be?" He inquired.

"About 800 years give or take. It's really difficult to count the years when the humans can't stick to a calendar system you know."

Jack dropped his jaw a bit.

800 years? That was more than twice his measly 300 years, but both of them still looked like they were ready to get on a high school bus and go take an exam.

Now Jack had a different problem. He had no idea what to talk about.

There were about a hundred questions going through his mind, but he had no idea where to start.

It also didn't look like Syl was much of a talker, so she was leaving the conversation up to him.

"So, is Syl short for Sylvia?"

Inward face palm.

Out of all the things he could've asked, that beauty popped out of his mouth.

"No, but I'm curious. Was Jack Frost your name before you were a spirit or did the man in the moon give it to you?"

Jack was glad Syl had turned the conversation away from his stupid question in the blink of an eye. He was happy to talk about himself to someone he's never met before.

"Jackson Overland Frost. Always have been always will be."

Syl smiled again. Jack really liked her smile.

"I'm afraid I haven't heard of you before Syl. What kind of spirit are you?"

Syl's smile got wider.

"Let's see if you can guess frost boy."

Ooh. A challenge.

Jack looked around, searching for clues that might hint to Syl's powers.

Well, they were on the roof of a slightly dilapidated church building. The parapets were covered in lichen and there were some ravens hopping about on the gargoyles that surrounded them. In fact, there was almost nothing but gargoyles on the roof.

Jack looked back to Syl, and then he noticed a piece of cord tied around her neck.

Tied to the end of the cord was a little figurine about the size of a golf ball and shaped like and egg.

When he looked closer, Jack could see that it was actually and intricately carved, stone gothic dragon curled into a sitting position.

The craftsmanship was impeccable. Jack could make out every scale and talon on the tiny beast.

"Well if I had to guess, I'd say you were the guardian spirit of gargoyles. Am I right?"

Jack stood with a smug grin on his face.

"Very good sled dog. Most people think I' the spirit of Dragons, but she died off centuries ago. I'm very impressed."

_Sled dog?_

Bunny would like this girl.

Syl decided that she liked Jack.

He seemed to be always smiling, and he had a mischievous look in his eyes that was hard to shake.

After the formal introductions, which were a bit awkward at first, Jack started to drawl on in a very comforting manner.

The boy was very easy to listen too, having a pleasant voice and a care free demeanor about him that put Syl at ease.

The two sat along the edge of the church next to one of the dozens of gargoyles. Jack seemed to be talking about almost nothing at all, but once in a while he would throw in a bit of information that reminded Syl that he was indeed a powerful spirit.

He started out with describing his home in Burgess, telling Syl about a little boy named Jamie that he had become friends with. It seemed like a peaceful place, and Syl decided that she would like to meet Jamie sometime.

But then Jack somehow moved to the subject of the quickest jet streams to take for flight, and Syl was caught off guard. She had lulled into the notion that she was finally talking to a regular teenager for almost the whole conversation. It was quite odd. Jack seemed so ordinary and kind that Syl had trouble believing all of the tales about him causing devastating blizzards and ice storms.

"Can you fly Syl?"

Jack had eventually stopped talking and Syl realized that she hadn't said a word in about a half hour to the boy.

"Wha-oh yeah. Except I don't use the wind like you do."

Syl pointed a thumb at the center of her back.

"I have wings."

Jack Frost raised his eyebrows skeptically, looking at the area she'd indicated with her thumb.

But there was nothing there.

"Oh really. And just how fast are you with these wings?"

Syl shrugged.

She'd always thought herself faster on her feet.

The conversation leaned back to more menial things, like how much the kids had changed over the centuries and how humans managed to stand walking around in socks and shoes.

It wasn't long before the sun started to get closer to the horizon, and Syl had to stop Jack in his rant about how annoying modern salt trucks were for him.

"It's getting late Jack, and I have to go to work once the sun sets."

It looked like Syl had just kicked an adorable puppy.

"Can't I stick around and help? I really have nothing to do this time of year."

Syl shook her head. She wanted Jack to stay but…

Jack saved her the trouble of having to respond.

"How about I meet you here tomorrow? I'm not too much trouble am I?"

Syl laughed again.

"No Jack! It's been wonderful speaking with you. I'll meet you here tomorrow."

Jack Frost smiled back.

Syl thought that, although he may be a winter spirit, his smiles were certainly warm.

The winter spirit grabbed his staff, and with a mock bow, jumped right off the edge of the church roof and into the coming dusk.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jack Frost was walking on air.

Both in the figurative and literal sense.

When he had met the guardians, he thought that his days of solitude and loneliness were over.

He had been right in a way, North was now like a father to him and the other guardians like siblings, and that made them family.

But you couldn't always be friends with your family.

For one, everyone was always treating him like a little kid. He knew that he was the youngest Guardian by far, and that he was also the youngest in years both in looks and in age. For another thing, he couldn't carry out any of the conversations that he really wanted to have.

Bunny had once told him that he was always talking and would never shut up, and that Jack never spoke about anything important.

Jack still wasn't used to having people to talk to though.

300 years of speechlessness will give a person a lot to talk about, and Jack just wanted to make use of his new audience.

But the other Guardians never paid him that much mind when he went on one of his rants. They would just go about their business and halfheartedly throw out a "yeah" or a "uh-huh" every once in a while.

But with Syl, it was different.

Syl actually _listened_ to Jack.

The entire time they were on the roof Syl had sat with her head in her hands and had looked him in the eyes when he was talking.

While it was mostly a one sided conversation, Jack still felt much more appreciated around her than he had with any of the Guardians.

He still loved them all dearly, but Jack felt that he could really relate with Syl.

Jack stopped in midflight, realizing something.

He really didn't know anything about Syl at all.

When they were on the roof together, all she had said was her name and what kind of spirit she was. That and she had apparently invisible wings.

Jack face palmed inside the jet stream.

_Stupid._

Why hadn't he asked more about her? Why couldn't he shut up for five seconds and learn more about the friend he had just made?

Jack decided that, no matter how hard it was for him to keep his mouth shut tomorrow, he would sit quietly and ask Syl more about herself.

He was genuinely curious.

It would be nice to know what life was like for a fellow wandering spirit.

The Guardians didn't really know what it was like, they were the big four. They always had believers.

But then Jack stopped in midair again.

He was making assumptions.

What if people did believe in Syl? What if they could see her?

Then he remembered her saying that she didn't think he would be able to see her when he was sneaking around.

That had to count for something right?

Syl couldn't believe it.

Jack Frost, the spirit of winter, bringer of the snow, had visited _her._

And he was incredibly kind too.

Syl hadn't really had a conversation with anybody in well over a decade, and all of those had been with less than perfect company.

Syl wished she hadn't have had to send Jack away for the night, but she couldn't risk him sticking around after the sun went down. She wasn't so sure how much he would want to visit her then.

She wondered what they would talk about tomorrow, but, then she realized, she didn't really care.

As far as Syl was concerned Jack could talk about the flight pattern of pigeons and she would be enthralled with him. He was just so easy to listen to. Then again, she hadn't had anyone worth listening to besides her gargoyles, and they only made grunts and hissing noises.

She couldn't wait until tomorrow.

"Jack? Where have ju been?"

The moment Jack touched down at North's workshop he regretted being so conspicuous.

"The yetis have been looking all over for you! They always suspect dat you're getting into some kind of trouble, especially Phil."

Jack let out a sigh. Why was North always worrying so much? He'd taken care of himself for over 300 years and now it was like he couldn't go five feet without breaking something.

"Ju really should tell someone when you're going to go off like dat Jack."

Jack wished North would mind his own business. Why should he have to explain himself to the Guardian?

He could tell North the truth about where he'd been, that he'd met Syl and was planning on meeting her the next day too. But then Jack thought about the implications.

North would be sure to want to meet Syl right away, and Jack was pretty sure that Syl would be very shy around one of the big four, or any other spirit for that matter.

He also felt like he had spilled every one of his valuable secrets to the Guardians. It was about time that Jack got back to his old lifestyle. After all, he wouldn't always be able to rely on North and Bunny to bail him out if he got into a sticky situation.

"I was just doing my job North. It may be spring but I can still bring some cold gusts to the top of the world. I have duties too you know."

"Alright, alright. No need to be so touchy Jack."

North had gone back to his work around the shop, yelling at the elves to "get out vrom under boot."

Jack really needed a new place to stay.

While his self-proclaimed home was in Burgess, he didn't actually have a place to stay when he retired from spreading winter joy. And he certainly couldn't stay in Santa's workshop all of his life. Jack had some pride left.

He walked back to the spare room that North had fixed up for him, freezing elves along the way.

What would Jack ask Syl tomorrow?

He could ask about life was like 800 years ago, or he could simply ask her to tell him about the mechanics of her job.

What was being the spirit of gargoyles like after all?

Jack couldn't begin to fathom the responsibilities that Syl had to carry, but he was certainly looking forward to finding out.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Jack arrived on the church rooftop the next day right as the sun was peeking over the horizon.

He knew he was probably early, but he couldn't sleep in the first place. His head just kept racing with ideas of what Syl's life might have been like. This was a futile attempt of course. He hadn't the slightest clue as to what being the spirit of gargoyles might be like at all. He didn't even know why gargoyles were on churches in the first place.

Jack skidded to a stop on the dew flecked rooftop, the drops quickly turning into crystals the moment he landed.

He really needed to learn how to control that.

The winter spirit looked around the rooftop to see if Syl was there yet, and he was surprised to see that she was, although not conscious.

It appeared as though Syl had actually slept on the same rooftop that they had met up on the day previous.

She was draped elegantly along the raised edge of the masonry, one leg hanging over into space and the other laid out along the bricks. She was propped up against one of the larger gargoyles, her head hanging forward and her arms crossed over her chest.

Like most spirits she wore the same clothes that she had the day before, and Jack wondered absentmindedly how they always smelled like they were fresh out of the washer.

Jack chuckled out loud and Syl immediately opened her eyes.

She had looked so peaceful.

"Good morning Jack, you're here early."

Syl stretched herself out like a cat after a nap while simultaneously yawning out a greeting.

"I didn't disturb you did I?"

"Oh no. It's alright. I don't actually have set sleeping hours. I'm more like a cat. Only short naps for me."

Syl continued stretching, and Jack couldn't help but be reminded of one of those circus performers warming up before an act.

"So Jack…" Syl asked while stretching her arms at impossible angles.

"What do you want to do today?"

"Well, what do you normally do first thing in the morning?"

Jack didn't usually get up this early in the morning, so it was kind of neat smelling all of the morning pastries and hearing all of the people rising for work.

"I usually swipe a doughnut or two. The British don't have really good coffee but their tea is excellent."

Being spirits, Jack and Syl didn't really need to eat. Of course, staying at North's workshop could make anyone weak in the knees for one of his delicious cookies, and it also gave them a bit of an energy boost.

"That sounds good. Where to?"

"Just follow me."

Then Jack nearly had a heart attack.

Syl jumped right off the edge of the church and down at least three stories to a building next to them.

Jack rushed over to see if she had made it, but she was already off and running to another building.

He just shook his head.

She was full of surprises.

Jack conjured up a strong wind with his staff and flew over in Syl's direction, where the girl was already defying gravity by scaling the red brickwork of a building. The nimble girl threw herself over the lip of the building like it was nothing and ran across the rooftop at a speed that could match Bunny's.

It was easy for Jack to forget the kind of people he lived with.

Syl eventually stopped her string of acrobatic feats to end at the corner of a busy crosswalk.

A vendor was already out in the morning mists of London vending pastries and yelling in a gruff voice about a special on strong tea.

Syl jumped down from an office building and Jack watched as morning commuters walked right through her on her way to the moving stand. She picked up a rock from the crumbling sidewalk and threw it at the head of the balding vendor.

He turned around in anger, violently demanding to see the scoundrel that hit him, while Syl discreetly pulled out a pair of doughnuts and tea from under his nose.

Jack couldn't help laughing out loud as Syl handed him the steaming cup of tea and a chocolate doughnut.

"You ever wonder why people don't question a cup of tea and a doughnut floating by them?" He inquired.

"Well if we went by that law they'd see a set of empty clothes walking by too. I mean, I don't think either of us woke up in these clothes right?"

Jack nodded. He was too busy devouring the delicious doughnut in front of him.

The pair walked along the already busy streets of London, letting people walk through their spectral forms as they enjoyed their stolen breakfast.

A young baby strapped to his mother's back reached out to Jack as the mother walked unwittingly by. Jack blew a playful snowflake towards him and they baby gurgled with glee.

"So some people can see you huh?" Syl asked.

Jack nodded.

"Only just a few months ago though. It's still pretty new to me."

Syl looked dejectedly at the ground.

"That must be nice."

"It's still not too many people though, especially since its springtime. They can only see me because I became a Guardian."

Syl shot him a questioning look.

"I thought only the big four were Guardians?"

Jack went into the whole story about how The Man in the Moon had chosen him to assist in the Nightmare Wars with Pitch Black, and how he had finally found his reason for being here after so many centuries.

Syl listened intently the whole time, nodding when he told about his uncertainties for existence and smiling uncontrollably when he said how he threw a snowball at the Boogeyman.

They had finished their pilfered food well before Jack was halfway through his story, but Syl didn't mind. They had walked into one of her favorite parts of town.

The pair meandered through the abandoned factory portion of London that had been constructed during the Industrial Revolution. Syl loved the architecture of the rundown factories and it was the perfect setting for Jack's story about defeating Pitch Black.

About three hours into the story Jack finally finished, and Syl laughed while looking into his glacier blue eyes.

"I wondered what Pitch was planning."

Jack shot her another questioning look.

"About ten years ago Pitch asked me to help him create more Nightmares. I haven't seen hide nor hair of him since."

Jack nodded.

"Yeah, he asked me to join him too. But you gotta stick up for the children right?"

Jack smiled warmly.

Syl smiled back.

"Yeah."

Jack and Syl were back on the church rooftop, this time eating some fish and chips that they had stolen from a curly haired ginger.

"So Syl…" Jack mumbled through a mouthful of fish.

"What's it like being the spirit of gargoyles?"

Syl swallowed her chips.

"Well, where to start?"

Syl sat for a moment pondering.

"It's a little different for me every day, but at the same time it's the same thing."

Jack cocked his head.

"I mean, I repair gargoyles, chimeras and grotesques that have worn down over the years, and every once in a while I'll make a new Zoomorph or something to pass the time or…"

Jack stared blankly at her.

"Okay. There are actually subtle difference between different kinds of gargoyles. You've seen all the different ones up here right?"

Jack nodded.

There were stone statues with anything from bat wings and talons to spiraling horns and spiked tails. Others were just regular animals like lions and goats while some were creatures Jack had never imagined.

"Well see, the correct term for most of the gargoyles you see everywhere are grotesques. Those are the kind that divert water off of church roofs like gutters to keep the masonry from eroding."

Jack nodded again.

"Gargoyles are statues that serve no purpose but decoration. Chimera is a term used to describe any statue that combines different kinds of animals. This is derived from the Greeks because they believed in a monster called the Chimera that had the body of a dragon, the head of both a lion and a goat, and a two headed serpent for a tail. Zoomorphs are creatures that are mainly human with a few animal parts thrown in, like a Satyr or a Faun. Are you following?"

Jack nodded a third time.

He had no idea that there were so many technicalities involving gargoyles.

"So your job is just keeping the statues intact?"

Syl shook her head.

"No, it's more complicated than that. You see, gargoyles weren't put on churches just to divert water. If that were all they'd just have little spouts running off of them right? Gargoyles are meant to instill fear in demons that want to ransack the church. It was thought that if the churches looked imposing enough, then the demons would think twice about attack innocent looking monks and clergymen. Although sometimes I think it was also to scare the village people into going to church."

Jack laughed a little at this last part.

"So what…you sit up here all night and scare away angry spirits."

Syl shrugged her shoulders.

"Something like that. Me and my gargoyles act as a kind of deterrent. It's rare that we actually have to take action."

Jack raised his eyebrows.

Syl and her gargoyles didn't look that scary.

"The demons have learned over the years not to attack anything with a gargoyle on top of it. They like easy targets, and we definitely don't make it easy for them."

Syl grinned evilly, revealing slightly elongated canines.

Jack shivered.

"I'll take your word for it Syl."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"No Jack. The British Invasion was not an attack on U.S. soil."

Syl felt like she was talking to a brick right now.

"Wait what? Then what the heck was it?"

A very uneducated brick.

"Haven't you ever heard of the Beatles Jack?"

"What do bugs have to do with an attack on the U.S?"

Syl could hit her head on that uneducated brick right now.

Syl and Jack Frost had been sitting on the roof of her church for over an hour now arguing about the style of British music.

Jack could keep up with the modern stuff like Muse and Mumford and Sons but he was absolutely hopeless when it came to the golden oldies.

"I swear Jack Frost. If you weren't friends with the Tooth Fairy I would've punched your teeth out by now."

Syl had enjoyed talking to Jack all day. She'd shown him around the older places in London like the abandoned factories and of course all of the churches too. And Jack had seemed genuinely interested.

"Alright my turn. Lynyrd Skynyrd?"

"Line-yard Sky-nard? What the heck is a Line-yard Sky-nard?"

Jack face palmed.

"No seriously, what the heck is that?"

"You have absolutely no defense for your teeth now."

"Well sorry! But you can't seriously be ignorant of the British invasion can you?"

It seemed that they had reached an impass.

Jack changed the subject.

"Hey Syl, do you know of any good places that I can crash around here? I've had to stay at the workshop at the North Pole and it's getting kind of cramped. Think you could help?"

Syl pondered his question, but simply replied that she would look while she was at work tonight and see if there was anything promising.

Jack noticed that it was getting close to when Syl had to leave for work.

"It's getting kinda late Syl. Do you still have to go to work?"

Syl's smile drooped.

"Yeah. I'm sorry Jack."

"That's okay, I can still come tomorrow right?"

Syl couldn't imagine doing anything else.

"Of course you can."

Syl watched Jack grab his staff and conjure up his friend the wind to take him back to the North Pole where he'd told Syl that he was staying.

Syl hoped that she could help Jack Frost find a place in London to stay.

That would be nice.

Jack flew back into the North Pole with a hop and a skip, barreling through the window like a Russian acrobat.

"Jack!"

Speaking of Russians…

"Jack! Where have ju been? Everyone's here!"

North was right. In the big meeting room stood Sandy, Bunny, and Tooth, all seemingly arguing about something to do with him.

"I told ya the gumbie couldn't stand bein' good all a the time."

"Oh but I bet Jack's just used to being outside all of the time. Isn't that right Sandy? Sandy?"

Unfortunately no one could understand what the Sandman was trying to communicate with his sand pictures.

"Wait, what's everybody doing here?"

Jack probably should've been wondering what he'd done wrong this time but he was too elated to worry.

"Vell Jack, we all had a relatively slow night so we got together to try and find you a more suitable place to stay."

Jack stopped floating around on a cloud of air.

"Oh."

Toothiana flew over on her multicolored wings.

"What's wrong Jack? We thought you'd be happy to get out of the workshop."

"Oh-Oh I am it's just that…well…ah…"

"Oh spit it out ya gumbie!"

Jack wondered whether or not to tell his friends about Syl. He knew that he shouldn't really be this tentative about it but…they would be all over him about meeting a new spirit and not telling them.

He supposed he would have to tell them at some point anyway.

"Well I already have someone helping me look."

Silence.

More silence.

"It's not _that_ unbelievable guys!"

They were startled out of their daze like goldfish floating in a tank before a little kid hits the glass.

Tooth spoke up first.

"Oh Jack, um, that's ah-"

"Who the heck would help _you_ look for a house?!"

Bunny threw his paws up in exasperation.

"No offense Jack, but, most spirits don't like ju very much. You cause too much mischief."

Jack was astonished.

"I'm not that bad!"

Bunny just kept shaking his head back and forth laughing. He felt sorry for the poor bloke that had to help Jack Frost look for a place to live.

Tooth had to but in with a little sense of dignity.

"That's nice Jack. Who is it?"

Jack stopped making frost on the ground inadvertently from the anger.

"Oh, it's Syl."

Even more silence.

"For Mim's sake what did I say this time?!"

Tooth looked like her feathers had turned a paler shade of green. Bunny looked like a greyhound had just popped in front of him and North had lost his omnipresent smile. Sandy was shaking in a manner that sifted some of his loose dust into clouds around him.

Again, tooth was the first to speak up.

"S-Syl? _She's_ helping you?"

"Yeah what's wrong with that?"

Jack was nervous to hear the answer. He'd never seen the Guardians' mood change so suddenly at the mention of a single name.

He couldn't think of a single reason as to why they would be acting like this. Syl was one of the nicest people he had ever met.

North walked up to Jack and placed a baseball mitt of a hand on Jack's shoulder.

"Syl? The Stone General Syl? Jack, why would ju be spending time wid her?"

Jack was starting to get freaked out.

"Why? What's wrong with Syl?"

Tooth butted in out of her catatonic state.

"Jack have you ever even _seen_ Syl? She makes Pitch Black look like a soft and furry rabbit! Sorry Bunny."

Bunny just shook his head.

"It's alright mate. She does make me look harmless."

Jack couldn't believe this. He may have only known Syl for two days but he had really liked her. And he didn't get what his friends meant about her looking terrifying. He'd thought that she looked like an ordinary girl when he first saw her. And Bunny? He wasn't afraid of anything. Why would Syl make him look so startled?

"Guys, what are you talking about? I've been talking with her for a few days now and she seems really nice and completely normal. Why are you freaking out so much?"

"You have got some messed up sense of normal mate. I never took you for the kind of bloke that would go for the whole razor sharp fangs and talon kind of guy. You really didn't mind it?"

Jack just shook his head.

"For the last time what _are_ you guys talking about?!"

Tooth let out a little gasp.

"Guys, I think he might have only met her during the day."

Bunny, North and Sandy all nodded sagely, thinking that this answered everything. Jack was tired of all of their cryptic answers. He let out a small snowstorm like when they had first summoned him to the North Pole to make him a Guardian.

Bunny put on a more serious look and began to explain the whole thing to Jack.

"Mate, you have to understand one thing. Syl: The Stone General, The Rook Master, The Chimera Tamer, The Grotesque Queen Syl, is a fear spirit. Her job is to terrify anything that comes to one of her churches in the middle of the night. She has an army of cold, unfeeling stone gargoyles that could rip you to sheds if ya looked at'em funny, and I don't think that they would give it a second thought either. But if you think that her minions aren't enough, she seals the deal."

Jack shook his head the entire time Bunnymund was talking, but he dare not interrupt.

"Syl makes Pitch's Nightmares look tame mate. Seeing how you've only met her in the day, I can only think ya lucky. At night she turns into a giant gargoyle the size of a Clydesdale with the body of a dragon and a wolf combined with massive talons at the end of her long limbs. She has gigantic bat wings and horns like an African antelope on her head. And to top it all off she's as black as pitch and you never see her coming until it's too late mate."

Jack had heard enough.

"And just where did you all hear this? I think I would've known if the person I was sharing tea with was a hideous monster that attacked people in the middle of the night."

Bunny just shook his head sadly. Sandy had helpfully created a visual for Jack above his head, and it looked just like what Bunny had described. A Fearsome and imposing beast.

This could not be the Syl he knew.

She would have told him about this right?

Right?


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Syl raced across the rooftop as fast as she possibly could.

With only her bare feet to grip the towers of London until the sun fully set, she was moving at a pace that was a bit less than desirable.

Something had landed on one of her church tops on the opposite side of the city.

It was big, and it was powerful.

She could sense it.

Syl flattened herself out against a gust of wind that blew up behind her, wondering if that was how Jack did it when he flew. It was all about momentum. You couldn't stop moving for anything if you wanted to go top speed, and Syl knew just how to throw her weight around.

The spirit of gargoyles was silhouetted against the setting sun as she stretched herself to grab the next spire. If anyone could actually see her, they would be gasping at the lithe figure that raced like a prize-winning greyhound across the rooftops of London.

Syl came into view of the church she was looking for, but she could tell who was standing there well before she could make out the indistinct shape.

Pitch Black.

Syl landed on the church top without a sound despite the speed at which she was barreling at.

Pitch Black stood in the shadow of an enormous oak that hung all the way up to the church top. Syl knew he hated the daylight.

There with a knowing smile plastered on his thin lips. His golden eyes shining.

Syl didn't like looking at Pitch's eyes.

They were just like hers.

"It's been a while Syl. How's life been treating you? Not too dull I hope?"

"Better than you've been doing Pitch. You look like hell."

Syl was right. The Boogeyman had seen much better days.

The Nightmare King's normally sleek black hair and robes were now just a dull charcoal color and he seemed thinner than usual.

Pitch laughed.

"Yes well, let's just say that I'll be out of commission for a while shall we? But that's not the reason I'm here."

Syl cocked her head to the side.

While she and Pitch Black weren't exactly what you'd call chummy, they still had a mutual respect for each other. That's why Syl had been the first he'd come to when he tried to recruit members for his Nightmare army. Syl hadn't exactly been keen on plunging the whole world back into the dark ages though. But then she realized, she probably could've warned the Guardians if she was really against Pitch. Syl guessed that they were good enough acquaintances that she hadn't ratted Pitch out.

They were both fear spirits after all.

"You see, there have been some-ah, unforeseen repercussions. Unfortunately brought on by myself. I just thought it fair to warn you for all of the times you've helped me out. I won't ask for your assistance now, seeing as to how that might put you in a bad way with the Guardians. But it doesn't hurt to keep the friends you have."

Syl wasn't so sure if she would categorize herself and Pitch as friends.

But he had come all this way to warn her about something, so she could at least be civil to him.

"I greatly appreciate this Pitch, but if you don't mind, please get to the point. It's almost dark. And you know what happens then."

The Boogeyman nodded vigorously.

"That's precisely why I'm here. As I assume you already know, my battle with the Guardians didn't go so well. That's not to say I didn't make some headway though."

Syl just raised her eyebrows.

From what Jack had told her, they had decimated Pitch, even making his own Nightmares attack him.

"Oh don't look at me like that. True it didn't end in my favor, but before I was defeated I had amassed quite a wealth of power. You're familiar with the Sandman yes? And if you are then I'm fairly certain that you know he's my polar opposite. Bringing pleasant dreams and the like. But he also had another job."

Pitch paused a bit at this, looking at the nearly set sun and then back to Syl, deciding he should speed things up before things got hairy.

"His good energy kept a balance in the world. His dreams brought hope to the people of the world and that, in turn, kept the darker energies subdued. I know that you haven't had that much trouble with demons attacking your churches lately, and I'm sorry to say, I might have changed that. When I defeated the Sandman, a broke a dam that was holding the dark spirits back. They've been massing together to gather strength ever since the incident, and I'm fairly certain you're going to be hearing about it soon."

Syl sighed deeply.

There was only a sliver of the sun poking over the landscape now, and Syl could feel her bones beginning to ache with that old feeling.

She looked up at the Boogeyman, and he could see her already pointy teeth starting to elongate and her eyes that were already so golden like his intensifying.

"Pitch, if it didn't already look like someone had dragged you through the Thames and back I would do it myself. But I do thank you for the warning."

Pitch Black bowed ever so slightly and disappeared into the shadow of the Oak that he was standing in.

He had never liked watching Syl change.

And he definitely didn't want to see her when there was a horde of demons to fight.

***"Jack, we're only trying to help here."

Toothiana was genuinely concerned about him, but Jack didn't want to hear it.

Ever since he had gotten back to the North Pole, all the Guardians had done was worry over him like a helpless child.

He was sick of it.

Even if Syl hadn't told him what happened to her after dark, he still knew that she was a kind and caring person. No amount of the Guardians protests could convince him otherwise.

For one thing, they had only met her at night, when apparently she looked about as cuddly as a porcupine. The only one who had actually talked to her were the Sandman and Bunny. North and Tooth hadn't had the courage to approach her, and Jack knew that talking for Sandy was not a very heartfelt conversation. Sand pictures never translated well.

"Have any of you guys ever spent a day with her? Have you ever sat down and listened to all she has to say about music and artwork? It's nicer to spend time with her than it is with you guys sometimes! She listens! Unlike some people!"

Jack knew he was pushing it a bit far, but he was really fed up with his friends assuming all of the time. Tooth covered her mouth from the sting of his words.

North put on an even more serious face than he had had on already.

"Jack, come wid me."

The winter spirit didn't want to follow North anywhere. But when the huge Russian turned around and flung daggers with his eyes, Jack relented.

They made their way across the busy workshop and down some narrow corridors, the other Guardians following behind.

They ended up in a room Jack had only been in once. He was never very keen on books.

And there were a lot of those.

North's library was stacked with an innumerous number of tomes and texts in every conceivable language.

It made the library of congress look like the children's section in a book store.

North moved over to a long table that was laden with dog-eared texts and sifted through the top layers searching for his desired book. Jack looked around the cathedral-like room with more of a scrupulous eye this time around.

The room was much longer than it was wide, and its height was so staggering that Jack had to crane his neck to see the tops of the uppermost shelves. There were incredibly long ladders on wheels that allowed a flightless person access to the upper shelves, but from the looks of the dust covered tombs, Jack doubted that they were ever used.

"Aha!"

North had found what he was looking for.

Jack walked over with staff in hand to peer over the large man's shoulder now that he had seated himself in a mahogany armchair. Sitting in front of the Russian was a tome even more heavily bookmarked than the others surrounding it, and from the worn away spine Jack could tell that this book was often referred to.

The book was opened to a page with a wood carved illustration that depicted a rookery of Gargoyles atop an ancient church, with something much larger presiding over them.

Jack guessed that this was Syl at night, owing to the strong resemblance between the Sandman's figure and the drawing before him.

"Dis, Jack, is a collection of all of the knowledge dat I have collected over the years on our fellow spirits. You're in here too if you're ever curious."

Jack was in fact curious. He wondered what North had thought about him before he had been chosen by the Man in the Moon to become a Guardian.

But that would have to wait for later.

"North, is this just stuff you've heard through the grapevine or have you actually seen these things for yourself?"

The bearded man shot him a furious look, so Jack opted to remain silent for the remainder of his rant.

"Dis beginning section is my firsthand experience when I saw Syl about 500 years ago. The rest is, as you say, heard through the grapevine. But as you know, I try to sift through as many of the rumors as possible for the truth, and remain as close to the facts as possible. See dis picture? That was exactly how I first saw Syl on the night we met."

The other Guardians had gathered around North to get a better spot for the story, but Jack only wanted to question North's interpretation of "meet".

Hadn't he said that he never talked to Syl?

But North was well into his storytelling mode now and there would be no disturbing him.

"It was Christmas night, and I was making my usual rounds delivering gifts in London. It was snowing heavily, and I was just pulling up to a church that was brightly lit with the candles of people gathered for the traditional telling of the nativity story. But all was not peaceful. This particular church was lined with dozens of gargoyles that night, and I knew for a fact from my previous visits that the church had only possessed a small scattering of them. Then, just as I was pulling up to land on the roof, the gargoyles began to move. Out of nowhere, dark shadows had begun to materialize and congregate at the entrance to the church. But the gargoyles would have no one disturbing the prayers of the people inside on that sacred night."

North paused a bit for dramatic effect, but Jack just wanted him to get on with it. It could get tiresome listening to his thick Russian accent for too long,

"All kinds of horrible cries and roars could be heard from the melee below my sleigh, and the sight was quite sickening. Talons tore through black shadows and stone crumbled beneath dark fangs. Before long the dark spirits had begun to reorganize, and only about half a dozen gargoyles were left to fend for the church. But the gargoyles were still hissing and spitting like they had all the energy in the world as the horde of demons fell on top of them. It was quite a sickening sight."

Jack had by now perched himself on top of his staff in one of his gravity defying feats, and Tooth and ceased hovering and landed on a comfy cushion on the ground.

"Then, just when I thought the carnage couldn't get any worse, a dark figure appeared on top of the church parapets. It swooped down into the fray on giant, jet black bat wings with silver talons extended to take out the unfortunate shadows it landed upon. It shredded and tore with giant fangs like a savage beast and it never seemed to cease tearing apart anything that appeared before it. It was a horrible sight. There were black stains of destroyed shadows all over the white of the snow and I could see smaller stains of blood as well from the creature that had swooped in to aid the gargoyles. That creature looked up at me with its piercing golden eyes and a dead demon still hanging lifelessly in its jaws. Then it threw the body viciously to the side and let out a terrible roar that shook the rafters of the church that it had been defending."

North flipped to the last page of his narrative and let out an exhausted sigh.

"I have never seen a spirit tear anything apart that quickly in all of my years here Jack. Syl is not someone to be taken lightly."


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_Bloody hell._

Pitch wasn't kidding when he said that the floodgates had been opened.

Syl could barely distinguish her gargoyles from the horde of demons that had come with the night, and there were no signs of it letting up either. The Stone General was glad that she'd repaired most of her rook on a routine checkup before all of this had gone down. She didn't think she would've survived this long otherwise.

Syl was fighting like a demon herself. It was the only way she knew how.

When the only things you have to learn from are bestial pieces of stone, you fight like a wild animal. Syl had of course refined her techniques a bit over the years from watching the humans around her. There was still no better way to fight than up close and personal for her.

The Chimera Tamer threw herself off of the church top and onto a group of new demons, her dragon wings spreading to their full terrifying length on the way down. Luckily for Syl, her black thermal made wing slits to fit her new form every night, and her cargos expanded as well to accommodate for her increased size.

She never figured out why this happened, but she was glad it did. She would hate to have to fight demons in only her jet black fur.

Syl landed right in the middle of the dark spirits, taking out two with talon slashes before she even hit the ground.

You think they would've learned to look up by now.

Syl threw her head to the side in an arcing motion to catch an ambushing demon with her long horns, sending it flying before it evaporated into a cloud of smoke and leaving a puddle of black blood on the ground.

Syl heard another demon coming from behind, its raspy breath giving it away. She kicked her clawed back paws to catch the moving shadow in what she assumed was the jawline. There was a satisfying crunch before the figure lost its mass and went back to the shadows it came from.

More spirits came from behind the tall oak tree, gliding in trails of smoke and leaving scorch marks where they're various paws and hooves landed.

Before Syl could attack the horde with her gargoyles, there was a loud tearing sound and then a burning sensation in the calf of her left leg.

A demon more silent than the one before it had snuck up behind her to tear its black claws through her greyscale cargos and into her flesh. It was leaning down to sink its dripping black teeth in too before one of Syl's most faithful chimeras swooped in from the side to send the demon sprawling to the grass.

The moving statue raised its massive paw and snapped the head of the spirit viscously to the side before it too disappeared into the night.

Now the mass of dark spirits were on top of them, and Syl had to repeatedly thrash back and forth to keep the demons from forcing her to the ground.

Fangs met black mass and shadows tore stone and fabric alike.

There was little time for thought in the melee. Syl just tore apart anything that didn't feel like stone that reached her grasp.

It was like a wild cat fight.

No bouncing back and forth to size up the enemy, no pause between opponents. There was only the rolling inside of the whirlwind that surrounded Syl and her gargoyles.

Occasionally Syl could make out another ball of stone and shadow rushing past her own, but for the most part there was no organized assistance.

There was no predicting demons after all.

Now Syl had both of her powerful forearms wrapped around a lanky spirit, crushing is long limbs into its sides. Then she had her massive jaws clenched onto the demons airway, black smoke leaking into her lungs as she clamped down and broke the spirits airway.

Just as Syl was about to untangle herself from the slowly suffocating mass, a snarling body threw itself onto her back and grabbed onto the scruff of her neck with the same force with which she had grabbed its companion's.

Syl couldn't free herself.

The demon had both of her arms pinned down beneath its meaty limbs and her wings were crushed uselessly beneath its great weight.

The more she struggled, the more the dark spirit dug into the back of her neck.

Syl howled. There wasn't much else she could do.

Then she heard a voice over the dirge of battle that made her stop struggling.

"Never thought I'd be helping you out mate."

***"So North, you're telling me that you're afraid of Syl just because she was protecting a church full of innocent people?!"

Jack was outraged.

The Guardians could be so thick sometimes.

"That's not the point Jack. The point_ is_ that she's dangerous. I've never been able to deliver presents when she's at a church, and she frequently fraternizes with many of the darker spirits. Including _Pitch Black._"

Jack laughed condescendingly.

"Now that is where you're wrong old man. Syl told me that Pitch asked her ten years ago to join his army. And from what you're telling me, that would've been a tide turner. But she _didn't accept his offer._ Syl is a good spirit."

"She's a fear spirit Jack."

Tooth butted into the argument, still genuinely concerned.

It was back to North again.

"Jack, I think you need to hear the rest of what's in this book. This is information I gathered from one of my friends in China many years ago."

Jack stopped him.

"Wait. There are no gargoyles in China."

North nodded.

"You're right. But they do have foo dogs."

Jack looked even more confused.

"Foo dogs are statues that traditionally stand in front of important buildings in China. They're the oriental equivalent of the gargoyle, but without any water diverting purposes. Syl apparently spent some time in that region during her early years as a spirit."

Bunny was getting tired of the history lesson.

He needed to talk to Syl if he wanted to get any real facts. And he knew that he hadn't exactly started off on the best of terms with her last time.

He remembered the night when he first met Syl all too well.

He was chasing down one of Pitch Black's Nightmares. He had made it his personal policy to destroy them whenever he got the chance. But this one was being particularly crafty.

It bobbed and weaved whenever he threw one of his boomerangs, and he had been stuck chasing it through the entirety of the Australian outback.

Bunny had followed it all the way to one of the new British settlements that had taken over Australia so many years ago, and he was just about to snare the little devil before it landed on top of one of the newly erected churches.

Complete with freshly quarried gargoyles.

Before Bunnymund could get anywhere near the Nightmare on the roof a great lumbering figure appeared behind it. Bunny assumed at the time that it was another Nightmare from its jet black appearance, and he loosed his boomerangs.

The figure dodged, and before he knew it, it had moved in a blur of motion to land right in front of him, allowing the Nightmare to race off.

Bunny raised his hand to catch his boomerang, but the figure in front of him caught it instead. It raised its golden eyes to stare at him.

It was definitely not a Nightmare, but he might be having some about it.

"Why are you at this church throwing weapons around all willy nilly? If I were an ordinary person you would've taken my head off, and I don't take too kindly to that."

Bunny almost scoffed when the beast in front of him called itself a person, but then he pondered, you couldn't call a six foot rabbit a person either.

Bunny gained some courage from his anger now.

"What am I doing? What are _you_ doing? You just let that Nightmare get away! Now give me back my boomerang mate, before I feel tempted to throw the other one."

No one touched Bunny's boomerangs.

No one.

"And I suggest that you run like the rabbit you are before my gargoyles feel like tearing _you_ to shreds."

Few people had the nerve to throw Bunny's threats back at him, but the anger that had spurred that threat on was now faltering.

This creature had moved much too quickly for Bunny to win a fast battle.

The Easter Rabbit had left the roof that night with a bitter grudge.

Now it was time to settle it.

He supposed that he would have to get off on a better foot this time as he exited the library through one of his tunnels.


End file.
